Initially meant for a Japan-only release, Com Lag 2+2=5 has been made available over this side of the world to satisfy demand from Radiohead’s hugely loyal fanbase. The good news is that this compilation of live tracks and B-sides from the Hail To The Thief singles and tour is of far more than mere curiosity value.
Blasting off with an incendiary live version of ‘2+2=5’, recorded at Earls Court in London last year, this is more ferocious than the studio version, the guitars exploding into brief, incandescent life, with Thom screeching at us to pay attention.
‘I Am A Wicked Child’ and ‘Gagging Order’ are as linear as Radiohead get these days. The former is a desert blues dirge of self-loathing that’s so filled with religious imagery you’d expect Polly Harvey to chip in some demonic backing vocals. Alas, she doesn’t, but that doesn’t take away from the brilliance of the song, which even manages to end on hopeful note. The latter is even more organic, just Johnny Greenwood’s acoustic guitar and Thom’s voice, for a tune that could be about a crumbling relationship or the claustrophobic nature of fame. As a contrast to the heavily doctored effects that characterise most of their current output, this is hugely affecting, particularly when Yorke emotes, “Move along there’s nothing left to see/Just a body, pouring down the street”.
Indeed, the only extraneous additions to this collection are the two instrumentals, ‘I Am Citizen Insane’ and ‘Where Bluebirds Fly’. Without Yorke’s vocals to guide them, they resemble nothing more than a personal computer clearing its throat.
‘I Will (Los Angeles Version)’ and the live rendition of ‘Fog (Again)’ are ‘Exit Music (For A Film)’s hauntingly beautiful siblings, with Thom’s unfaltering falsetto unashamedly to the fore. The metranomic Christian Vogel remix of ‘Myxomatosis’ is as dark and oppressive as a David Lynch omnibus, the serrated beats providing a seriously fucked-up backdrop to Yorke’s surreal lyrics about mongrel cats, cripples and Mafia geeks: file under uneasy listening. Four Tet’s take on ‘Skttrbrain’ is far gentler on the eardrums, with the chief Head’s storm-crossed imagery countered by the soothing sound of bells.
More than just another import for obsessive completists, Com Lag 2+2=5 is a snapshot of one of the greatest bands of the new millennium at the peak of their creative powers. Let’s face it, Radiohead’s cast-offs are superior to most bands’ finest attire.